Integrating Semantic Web Services Ranking Mechanisms Using a Common Preference Model

Service ranking has been long-acknowledged to play a fundamental role in helping users to select the best o erings among services retrieved from a search request. There exist many ranking mechanisms, each one providing ad hoc preference models that o er di erent levels of expressiveness. Consequently, applying a single mechanism to a particular scenario constrains the user to de ne preferences based on that mechanism's facilities. Furthermore, a more exible solution that uses several independent mechanisms will face interoperability issues because of the di erences between preference models provided by each ranking mechanism. In order to overcome these issues, we propose a Preference- based Universal Ranking Integration (PURI) framework that enables the combination of several ranking mechanisms using a common, holistic preference model. Using PURI, di erent ranking mechanisms are seamlessly and transparently integrated, o ering a single fa cade to de ne preferences using highly expressive facilities that are not only decoupled from the concrete mechanisms that perform the ranking process, but also allow to exploit synergies from the combination of integrated mechanisms. We also thoroughly present a particular application scenario in the SOA4All EU project and evaluate the bene ts and applicability of PURI in further domains

Mid-term Evaluation of NGO Programmes Under EEA Grants 2009-2014

The EEA Financial Mechanism (2009-2014) have committed 160,4 million to support seventeen NGO Programmes in sixteen countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Spain. The overall objective of the EEA Grants NGO Programmes is strengthened civil society development and enhanced contribution to social justice, democracy and sustainable development in each of the beneficiary countries. As of 30 of June 2014, 957 projects in total of 53,793,561 have been supported mainly in the fields of democracy, citizen participation, human rights, social justice and empowerment, sustainable development and provision of basic welfare services. The mid-term evaluation of the NGO Programmes funded by the EEA Financial Mechanism (2009- 2014) is an independent formative evaluation. Its objective was two-fold: 1) to assess the progress and needs for improvement of the current Programmes, and 2) to inform policies for the next financial period. The main purpose of this evaluation was to provide an expert independent mid-term assessment of the contribution of the EEA Grants 2009-2014 to the NGO sectors in the beneficiary states operating NGO Programmes. The evaluation was of dual nature: (1) of a formative evaluation to identify progress and needs for improvement of the current Programmes and (2) of a forward oriented strategic review to inform policies for the next financial period

Non-financial measurements in banking industries of Sweden, Romania and Ukraine

Our study explored the use of non-financial measurements in financial services industries in Sweden, Romania and Ukraine. The countries were selected on grounds of the authors' nationality and the masters program. The analysis was focused on the use in practice of the latest theoretical developments, the non-financial indicators link with the banks’ strategies and the financial measurements and the differences in use between the three countries found at different economic development levels. The findings indicate that Swedish banks use a more mature and developed performance measurement system, which includes non-financial measurements besides financial ones. The study indicates that banks from the other two countries use a performance measurement system in its early development stages with strong influences from traditional accounting systems. The results also indicate a possible further development of the performance measurement system in Romania and Ukraine considering mainly the great influence of the foreign ownership, latest theoretical developments exposure and also the interest showed at declarative level for the non-financial dimensions

Emerging Communication Technologies and Public Health Information Dissemination

Health promotion is a critical constituent of the public health system. Its primary objective is the empowerment of individuals and communities in the interest of positively influencing health behaviours and outcomes. One of the main ways in which successful health promotion is achieved is by the dissemination of relevant health information to individuals and communities. As global health costs rise to match the demands of an increasing and ageing population, such delivery of cost-effective public health information is explored. The recent advances in communication technologies have led to the development of social digital platforms (Web 2.0), with unprecedented opportunities for the extensive dissemination of relevant health information. The widespread uptake of social networking sites (SNS) presents a novel platform for public health promotion and management that can verily overcome the issues faced by current public health initiatives while reaching global populations of health consumers. This thesis aims to provide an exploratory analysis of the current landscape of health information communication across SNS, primarily through the platform Twitter. The research will address literature gaps in this cross-disciplinary field of health and communication sciences found for various SNS user-types, analyse and characterise the types of health information being disseminated across such platforms, as well as examine SNS activity during public health events. Public health officials and Web 2.0 platform developers can utilise findings from this thesis to address limitations of online public health-related communication insofar as they can assist with: a) advising plans for better engagement of information disseminated during health events; b) developing future applications and technologies that are appropriate for disadvantaged groups; c) identifying information dissemination strategies for authoritative health bodies and organizations to effectively reach populations

Impact of Facebook usage on firm’s performances among Malaysian Chinese retailers

Social media including Facebook has been acknowledged to play a vital role in firms achieving superior performance. Malaysia is a multicultural country in which the Malaysian Chinese are considered to be the most successful entrepreneurs. There is, however, a lack of research regarding the influence of Facebook usage on firm performance among Malaysian Chinese retailers. As such, this study had two aims. Firstly, the study investigated the influence of compatibility, cost effectiveness, trust, and interactivity on Facebook usage among Malaysian Chinese retailers. Secondly, the study assessed the impact of these retailers’ Facebook usage on their perceived financial performance, perceived non-financial performance, perceived business growth, and perceived performance relative to competitors under the moderating impact of market turbulence. This study developed a conceptual model based on the Strategic Contingency Theory (SCT) and Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory, and used a structured survey instrument to gather data. Using non-probability sampling techniques, 129 Malaysian Chinese retailers from Kuala Lumpur and Selangor were recruited for the study. Data was analysed using PLS-SEM techniques. The results showed that only compatibility, cost effectiveness, and interactivity have a statistically significant positive influence on Facebook usage, which in turn has a statistically significant positive influence on the retailers’ perceived financial performance, perceived non-financial performance, perceived business growth, and perceived performance relative to competitors. Moreover, market turbulence was only found to be a moderator that improves the impact of Facebook usage on perceived financial performance, perceived business growth, and perceived performance relative to competitors, but not perceived non-financial performance. These findings contribute to current literature and provide insights into the role and importance of Facebook usage on firm performance among Malaysian Chinese retailers, possibly encouraging more retailers to deploy social media in their business processe

A preference meta-model for logic programs with possibilistic ordered disjunction

This paper presents an approach for specifying user preferences related to services by means of a preference meta-model, which is mapped to logic programs with possibilistic ordered disjunction following a Model-Driven Methodology (MDM). MDM allows to specify problem domains by means of meta-models which can be converted to instance models or other meta-models through transformation functions. In particular we propose a preference meta-model that defines an abstract preference specification language allowing users to specify preferences in a more friendly way using models. We also present a meta-model for logic programs with possibilistic order disjunction. Then we show how we conceptually map the preference meta-model to logic programs with possibilistic ordered disjunction by means of a mapping function.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

ACTAS: Adaptive Composition and Trading with Agents for Services

Mainly in business domains, the vision of gaining flexible, adaptive service environments is based on the standardization and practical proliferation of (Semantic) Web Services, ontologies, and agents. The standards of Web Services and their Service-oriented Architectures (SOA) became the standard paradigm for software component integration. Dynamic changes and the permanently increasing amount of available e-services of different domains are a challenge of Service Discovery and Composition. Mediation between different approaches and expert knowledge is often necessary for the composition of services of different domains. Semantic enhancements, Autonomic Service Discovery, and the research for more holistic concepts for the classification of e-services are current attempts of overcoming this challenge, in order to reach the ultimate goal of Autonomic SOC

University research: policy considerations to drive Australia’s competitiveness

Universities are integral to Australia’s research effort and provide the foundation of skills and knowledge required for the nation’s long-term success. Research and innovation have been consistently identified as essential ingredients for improving productivity and quality of life. If Australia is to continue to compete internationally, we must critically look at our performance and identify ways of strengthening all elements of the system. Australia’s research performance compares well internationally, both in productivity and research excellence. In terms of academic impact, there are clear areas of strength across the breadth of disciplines and Australia’s researchers are highly regarded. There is, however, room for improvement, especially relative to the best-performing nations. Knowledge exchange and the ease of translation of research into the broader economy and community are Australia’s main areas requiring substantial attention. An examination of the countries chosen for comparison—Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and Canada—brings to light several similarities in their approaches that should be considered for Australia’s future approach: Long-term strategies and plans have been implemented, including targets and priority areas, accompanied by significant and ongoing support. The strategies focus on areas of national interest and comparative advantage and take into account the country’s industrial structure and location. The unique role of universities is recognised, as is the need to support a balance of investigator-led and mission-led research. If we are to improve Australia’s performance and achieve the broader aims for research, a range of matters needs to be considered by the university sector and government: Australia needs a long-term plan that outlines national priority areas and secures ongoing and reliable support for the fundamentals of the research system. Reward and recognition mechanisms at the researcher and university levels should be critically examined. We need to support a balance of basic and applied and investigator-led and mission-led research, maintaining the strong focus on research excellence. Australia must increase its efforts in both domestic and international collaboration, especially in the priority areas identified. The career path for researchers in all sectors must be improved. We must ensure our best and brightest can move freely between industry and academia. Holistic, ongoing funding for national research infrastructure is imperative. A transactional view of university–industry collaboration will not deliver the deep and productive relationships required to improve the translation of research. In view of accelerating investment in research and innovation by our Asian neighbours and traditional competitors, Australia could be close to the proverbial ‘tipping point’, whereby we are not able to achieve our goal of a high-wage, high-growth economy. A national strategy that addresses all facets of the system, targets both supply and demand, and includes long-term financial commitments is needed in order to bring about cultural change and improve Australia’s research and innovation performance. Universities Australia has prepared this paper to inform current and future debate about university research and its role in driving Australia’s competitiveness